Means for cleaning floors.



170,811,119. PATENTED JAN. 80, 1906.

F. F. ANDERSON. MEANS FOR CLEANING FLOORS, APPLICATION I ILED FEB-19, 1904.

N 0. 311,119. V PATERTED JAN. 30, 1906.

F. F. ANDERSON. MEANS FOR CLEANING FLOORS;

APPLI 1 LE IN VENTOH are ron.-

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. .30, 1906.

To (r/2:5 wliomit-mwy concern.-

, Be'itknown that 1, .Fnnnnnicn F. ANDER- SON, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city, county, and-State of New York, have invented a certain new and. useful Improvement in Means for Cleaning Floors; of

. which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means whereby the'washing and drying of floors, pavements, and the like may be accomplished with a minimum of effort and time and without the ne cessity of the jerator kneeling or stooping to reach his'worh. r

In its preferred form this invention has the following advantages: A small compact device is provided which can be easily operatedwith one hand and can be pushed into corners and close to the wall, so as to leave now part of the flooruntouched. A single handle 2U the floor and to give complete control of the supply of water for'cleaning the floor, so that acts both" to push andjpull the device over the operator can propel'the machine and reg-' (date the amount of water and either shut off or turn on saidwat-er with the same hand. I have illustrated one preferred form of this invention in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 'is a side view of the complete Washing and drying apparatus. Fig. 2 is a to view of the same. Fig. 3 is'a longitudina median section of the same. Fig. 4 shows 1 rubber. 111g, transmission of movement to a slmllar a preferred] means for connection between thedriving-wheel and rollers for the dryingband. Fig 5 is a fragmentary view looking up beneath the water-tank and showing the 'valves,'and Fig. 6'is a longitudinal section of the referred rollers for moving and squeezin ilhe drying band.

1 it is to be understood that whilein the drawings I have shown a device combining the scrubbing and functions this invention isnot limited to this combination, but covers either used alpne, substantially as hereinafter described; j In the preferred form shown an outer wheeled carrier 1 is employed, which may be given the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2 The weight of this carrier is supported upon wheels 2, which are preferably su plied with an adhesive tire 3, which may llhmade of This is for the purpose of facilitat tire 4 on the driven wheel 5 for the purpose hereinafter mentioned. Any well known appropriate bearing 8. In t 1 Application its February 19, 1904. Serial Holmes i1.

means. for insuring constant frictional effect between these two wheels. may be employed without departing {rem-this invention. It

is also' to be understood that my invention covers anywell-known form of ower-trans mitting' device whereby the 'w eels which carry the frame 1 act to drive the wheels 5 and 5*. The arrows in Fig. 1 show the respective directions of movement of the wheels 2 and 5 when the frame is pushed fcwward. I

The frame 1 is controlled by means of a longhandle 6, attached by means of'a horizontal revoluble shaft 7 passin throu 'h an he preihrred form this hearing is supplied with a number of notches 9, and a pin 10, carried on the handlefi, is used to connect thehandle with the bearing 8 by insertion of the pin into any one .of said notches, thus ermitting a wide range in the position of the andle'durin use.

At one end of the frame 1 there 1s attached a stron brush 11, the back of whichbrush extends across from side to side underneath the frame '1 and practically forms part of it.

Above the brush 1L and partly resting upon it, as shown in Fig. 3, there standsthc water-tank '12, which may be given any desired "form and is'prefe-robly snpplied with handles, such as 13 and .14. This tank is carried by the frame 1 between its EWO sides and is removable therefrom whenever it is desired to renew the supply of water-or to throw away the dirty water. The removability of the tank 12 is indicated in Fig. 3 by the dotted lines, indicating the position of the front of the tank when pulled slightl forward.

The tank is su' plied witha suitab e valve for discharge of t e clean water in roximity to the brush-11, which valve may e. of any desired character and maybe controlled by any appropriate means. Inthe preferred form s own two valves are illustrated, the 0penings of which are placed just behind the brush 11 underneath the tank. These openings are normally covered by the valves 15 v and 16, carried on arms 17 and 18, which are fixed to the revoluble'shaft 19 under the tank, turning in bearings 20, fixed to the tank itself. The coiled spring 21 or equivalent device is applied to the shaft 19 in such a manner astotendat all times to close'the valves. To one end ofthe shaft 19 there 1s fixed anfoperating-arm 22, commanded by a pin 23,.Wh1ch 18 carried on an outslde arm 24,

pivoted: to the side of the'frame l. When this arm 24 is drawn upward toward the bottom of the tank 12 the pin 23 presses the arm 22 and turns the shaft 19 in op osition to the spring 21 thus opening both the valves and 16 and ermitting esca e of water. In the preferred form shown t e raising of the arm 24for o ening the valves is accomplished by means oPa cord, wire, or the like 25, attached at one end to the arm 24 and at the other end to the side of the handle 6 in such a way that when the handle is revolved the ten-' sion exerted on the cord 25 will raise the arm 7 24. The coiled spring 26 exerts a constant the valves closed. The attachment of the cord 25 at itsupperend is preferabl arranged is best adapted to combination the e center of the s aft 7, on This is done to in line with t which the handle 6 turns.

permit rotation of the handle 6-around its shaft without affecting the valves, and the particular arrangement of the cord as shown in the drawings insures o eration of the valve by turning the handle, w atever maybe the de es of inclination of the handle.

he parts thus far described, omitting the wheel 5 and its tire, are sufficient to accom-' plish the scrubbing functions, and I have claimed this much of the device separately without reference to its combination with the drying means hereinafter described. Said drying means -are also themselves claimed separatelywithout reference to their combination with the scrubbing device. The preferred form-of drying means which scrubbing means thus far described is shown in the drawin and comprises a movable absorptive ban so arranged as to convey the:

water from the floor or pavement to'a point where it may be squeezed out of the band. The roller 27 is pivoted between appropriate arms 28 on the sides of the frame 1,and an endless absorptive band, which may be made of appropriate textile material, runs on said roller, the same being shown at 29 in the drawings. The 11 per part of the endless band is alsocanied on a roller and a special form is given to this second roller in the preferred form of this device, as best shown in Fi s.2.and6.

order that the. device may be used to run closeup into corners, the arms '28 are bent outward, so as to carry the band 29 out as far as the, outer planes of the supportingwheels 2. It is obvious, however, that the upper end of the band 29in the form of device shown must be contracted "within the space between'said wheels, and for this purpose 1 preferably employ a carrying-roller 30, the shape of which is clearly shown in lon tudinal section in Fig. 6' and wherein the smallest diameter is near the middle. The movement of th s band 29 and the squeezing of moisture therefrom are both accomplished in the preferred form shown by means of a driving-roller 31 shaped to fit the carryingroller 30 and whose longitudinal section is clearly illustrated in Fig. 6. The roller 31 is carried on pivots 32. (Shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 and in section in Fig. 4.) TlieroHer- 8;

31 is stened to these pivots, and the toothed Wheel 33 is also fastened to that pivot which lies on the same side as the wheel 5. This wheel turns loosely on the pivot 32 and carries a spring-pawl 34. When the wheel turns in the direction op osite to the arrow in Fig. 1, the pawl 34 an ratchet-Wheel 33 cooperate to move the roller 31. Contrary movement of the wheel 5 causes the pawl 34 to travel idly over the ratch twheel. Thus the band 29 is always carried mome directionnamely, the outside moving upward-and by tilting the frame 1 into the'position shown in Figs. 1 and 3 this band is brou ht in contact with the floor orpavement W ile driven as above described, thus absorbing water and carrying it up to the rollers 30 and 31, .be-*

tween which it is squeezed, thus causing water .to fall into any appropriate receptacle below said rollers to catch it. It is preferred to arrange baffle-plates 35, projecting o posite each other, below the opening into t e receptaclefor dirty water. By use of these plates the agitation ofthevessel 12 is.

prevented from throwing the water out from the toplopening.

Int e preferred form of my invention the tank 12 is divided into two compartments separatedb y the partition 36L The compart-' ment over the valves contain the clear water and the other compartment will be destined to receivethe' dirty water. Where it is desired to use the same water-over a Jain, as

may be done where water is scarce, t e gate foe means of the rod 38 and handle 39. On raisthis gate the whole tank becomes virtu- & Y

one com artment and becomes equivalent to atank aving no partition 36, which arrangement is within my invention. This last arrangement may be usedeven where only In this case the scrubbing operation is completed over the whole floor before the dryingand is used, and the dirty water is returned to the tank 12 only after the whole floor has been cleaned.

It will be obvious that by tiltin the frame 1 to bring either the band or the brushes against the floor one or the other of the functions of the entire combination may be'made separately available.

A variety of changes may be made in this device without departing fromthe spirit and scope of this invention, and I am not tobe understood'as limiting myself to the; details connection tank, a single pro What I claim is- 1. Ilia device of the class described, aframe and brush attached beneath the same, a wa-' valve for openin and closing the valve by movement of the andle, substantially as de-. scribed.

2. In a device 7 of the class described, a frame, a brush pivoted beneath said frame a water-tank above said brush supported bysaid frame, a valve beneath said tank, a propelling-handle for the frame rotatably mountedthereon, a spring for closingl the valve, 9. in on the handle and a flexib e connection etween said pin and said valve whereby turning the handle on its own axis will act to open and close said valve, substantially as described. 7 y

3. In a device of; the class described, a frame, a brush carried beneath the frame, a tank supported by the frame above said brush, a valve beneath said tank and a propelling-handle; in combination with wheels supporting said frame,

tom of the frame and extendmgkto each side as far as the lanes of said whee two corrending ro ers each of varying cross-section pivoted near the top of the frame over said tank, means connecting the supportinga roller near the bot-- wheels with one of said last-named rollers for driving the same and an endless band of absorbent material as wide as said lower roller supported by and running on all three rollers so as tos read out near the bottom of the frame, an be contracted within narrower limits near the top thereof, substantially as described.

4.1n a deviceof the class described, a frame, a tank supported by said frame; a' valve beneath the tank, a brush supported under one end of the frame near said valve a roller extending across and supported by said frame at its 0 posite end, a single pair of suporting-whee s for the frame between said rush and said roller, rollers supported by the frame above said tank, means connecting the .suHporting-wheels-and one of said last-named ro ers for driving the latter, an endless band of absorbent material passing over the firstnamed roller and over the last-named rollers, and a propellin '-ha'ndle for the frame said supporting-whee sextending below the plane of the brush and lower roller so that the frame may be tipped on said sup ortingwheels by means of said handle to brlng said brush or said band in contact with thefloor at will, substantially as described.

FREDERICK F. ANDERSON. Witnesses:

" S. MAoKAYE, FLORENCE PIcK. 

